Kick-starter mechanism.



F. W. SCHWLNN.

KICK STARTER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. e, I9Ie.

l o Patented June 4, 1918,

7 nur, or emesso, rumors;

@K ST 'rua meenemen.

teml. speaaoaum of mettere Patent. ratented June 4,. wie. Application led February 6, 191e. Serial No. 215,596.

`To all Iwhom t may concern: been found in practice, however, that the I Be it hewn that I, FRANK W. S'CHWINN, motor would frequently come to a stop a citizen of theUnited States, residing,I at in such position as' to cause the teeth ofthe Chicagdin the county of Cook and State of sector-gear 14 to wedgeagainst the top of Kick-Starter Mechanism, of which the olinstead of properly meshing therewith. Unlowing is aspeccaton. der these conditions the' relatively great My invention relates to improvements in force applied by the weight .ofthe operator starting mechanism for internal combustion on the pedal-crank 13 coming with great l Illinois, have invented a new and useful the teeth of the gear upon the starter-shaft, 60

y enginesand is particularly directed to Sosuddenness, as a kick orV shock upon the 65 15 or` push called kick-starters commonlyemployed parts, is sucient in many instances to onl motorcycles and including a train .of break the gears, spring the shafts, or even gearing connected with the motor andacto .cause a fracture of the cast frame or tuate'd b, a pedal-crank which is kickedf casing in which they are supported.

ed suddenly with considerable force It is the particular end and aim of the 70 by the foot to cause the motor to be rapidly resent invention to avoid this diiculty turned, over for starting purposes. y y modifying the construction of the starter- ,l

My invention will be fully understood gear in such a way as to make it impossible from the 4following speciiication, taken in for this wedgng action to occur and tQ i11- connection with the accompanying drawsure a proper meshing of the gear and sec-v 'l5 ings, in whichc y tor under 'all conditions. Figure 1 .'s a fragmentary side elevation ln general this object is accomplished 'by of the` lower portion of a typical motorthe provision of a two-piece gear embodying cycle frame showing the mounting of the a central hub section connected with the i 26 starting-gear train therein; Fi -2 is an starter-shaft and an outer-.annulus carrying 80` 1 enlarged longitudinal centra section the gear teeth and adapted to be'engaged through the starter-gear, showing the manby the sector-gear 14, the outer annulus andl ner of mounting the same upon its shaft; the cen ral hub having a limited independ- `Fig. 3 is an enlarged face view of theouter ent movement under the restraining yforce 30 toothed annulus of the gear` of my invenof a spring. The central or hub portion re- 85 tion; Fig. 4 is a similar view of the hub `ferred-to is illustrated in Figs.'4, 5 and 6, portion of the gear showing the cushioning vand is ldesignated 15. Upon one face of the ring in position; Fig. 5 is an edge v1ew same Y there are formed ratchet-teeth ,16. of thev hub portion shown in Fig.` 4; and which in-the assembled position of the parts l 85 Fig. Gis a rear face view of. the same. coperate with complementary teeth formed 9Q` For a more complete illustration of the in the opposed face of a collar or sleeve 1,7 `motorcycle ragmentarily illustrated in these on the starter-shaft 11. On the opposite face drawin reference may be had to my prior of the hub portion thereis a groove 18 which Patent o. 1,215,877, of February 13, 1917. receives a ratchet-engaging spring, as will e0 Referring more particularly to the accomlater appear.

. panying drawings, the numeral 10 desig- In the periphery of the hubfportion 1'5 nates the crank-case of the internal comthere ismilled an undercut keyway 19, in bustion motor and the numeral 11, a starterwhich there is seated a key 20 of the crossshaft suitably journaled adjacent the motor section' shown in Fi 4 and 6.

v 46 -and connected with the crank-shaft thereof The outer toothe annulus is designated 100 by suitable gearing. j 21 and is bored to a diameter slightly less j Back of and parallel with the starterthan the diameter of the hub portion 15 4shatt 11y there is journaled a pedal-shaft/l and then counterbored to a diameter equal carryin uponpone end a pedal-crank 13 and to that ofthe latter, thus providing a shoul- 50 upon t e other a sector-gear 14, which is der 22 against which the' grooved face of 105 adapted to mesh with and drive a gear upon the hub seats in the assembled osition ofV the starter-.shaft 11 and thus to transmit the parts, as shown in Fig. 2. c receive motion to the crank-shaft. It has hitherto the key 20 the toothed annulus is provided been the practice to apply a standard one` with a rectangular keyway 23, of a width piece gear to the starter-shaft 11, 1t fs.. somewhat ter than that of the key, so n0 Aas to admit of'a relative angular movement ofthe hub andv annulus approximately equal to the angular interval of one tooth of the gear. The inclination of the side faces of the key 20 is such that these faces usually bearrespectively over their entire surface upon the faces of the keyway 23. In the assembled position of the parts the hub -portion and the toothed annulus 21 are a spring in the form of a wire v connected by loop 24 having out-turned ends which engage, respectively, in the key and in the body of the toothed' annulus. For assembling the vtwo parts ofthe starter-gear to' make the Vlatter a unitary structure, there is provided an annular face-plate 25 which is secured to the counterbored face of the toothed annulus as by the screws 26 and serves to retain the hub within the'counterbore.

In assembling the structure, the coii1-A y' pound or two-piece starter-gear is mounted upon the starter-shaft 11, as shown in Fig, 2, the ratchet-teeth 16 ofthe hub portion engagin the complementary teeth on the collar 1 The ratchet teeth are normally .'held in this engaging relationship by a small coil-spring 27 confined I of the internal combustion engine (either -f through the starter-shaft 11 or otherwise) in the position shown between the groove 18 in the face of theI hub portion` and a nut 28 on the end of the starter-shaft.

This nutis locked in position by -a yflanged' to the end of the cover-plate 29 fastened starter-shaft by a screw 30.

The operation of the mechanism described is as follows: The collar 17,` being connected by suitable mechanism lwith the crank-shaft and the parts' beingI in Figs. 1 and 2, the pedal-crank 13 may be operated in the-usual way to rock the shaft 12 and cause the sector-gear 14 to engage the'teeth of the annulusv 21; f In .place of meeting the full load of the motor, immediately upon engaging its teeth with the teeth of the annulus 21 the sector-gear 14 meets only been turned through approximately the an# Agular distance of one tooth, corresponding to the clearance between the key 2O and the keyway 23. -By reason of this-relatively i Anegligible initial load, the sector-gear is en- @When this ,clearance has once been taken.

` up the two-piece starter-gear acts as va uniforward by ther 05.

f abled to mesh perfectl with .the teethof the annular gear;v I for example, the parts haver been stopped in such position as to cause any wedging tendenc`yth`e annulus 21 may slip forward a suilicient distance t'o destroy the wedgin action and bring the teeth into perfect mes between the keyvand keyway is taken vup.

tary gear and isV driven t sector-gear 14 to turn the crank-shaft of portion in its place thev loadl of the lspring 24, .which is relatively light, until the annular gearhasin the direction Apendently of the power-transmitting memfber, whereby engagement `of the sector-geaii 120 1 the 'combination with before the clearance `mentin the direction of the the`internal combustion engine and start the same. When the engine has started the ratchet-teeth 16 automatically free themselves, the spring 27 yielding to permit the starter-gear to be forced outwardly on its '7o shaft. The shaft will therefore now overrun the gear, andthe pedal-crank may be returned to its initial` position, driving the starter-'gear backwardly.` When the parts are again brought to" the position .shown in Fig. l the spring 27 forces the-ratchet teeth again into engagement andthe shaft 11 'and the'gear thereon turn as a unit, thereby obviating the continuous operationl of the ratchet over-run device.

starting lad is removed from the annulus 21 the spring 24 thereof again takes" up'vthe clearance between the key` 20 and] the -keyway 23 in the reverse direction, so that'. upon any subsequent actuation of the start- 85-l ing. mechanism` the toothed annulus` will.

again be free to rotate independent/ly in-its. I

hub through the limited distance requiredv to insure perfectmeshiiig of the teeth.

As soon as i the f Due to the undercut construction vof the keywa 19, the key 20 therein is bythe action o centrifugal force held firmly against the walls of th e keyway.` j i n By the construction described the diiiiculties heretofore met with in key-starters have beenentirely overcome. x

While I have shown and described in coiisiderable detail one specific embodiinentlof my invention it will be understood that this is illustrative Iy do not yregard the invention as limited to these details Vnor to 'any of'them, except in so far as such limitations are included claims, in which it is my yintention to claim all novelty inherent in my invention as -broadly as is permissible in view of the priorart.

cure by Letters Patent is:

' In mechanism of the class described, the combination with' a sector-gear of a starter-gear with whichthe ber and aepower-tra'nsmitting member, the toothed'member having a limited movement of its. normal action indewith the toothed member may be eected before the latter assumes its load. t l2. In -mechanism of the class described, a sector-gear of a starter-'gear with which the former is adapt- 125v edgto mesh, saidstarter-gear comprising a toothed member and a power-transmitting 'member havin limited independent angular movement, an a spring resisting such movethe operation of only and for the purpose ofA `making the invention more clear, and that l y same is adapted i to mesh and comprising va vtoothed memnormal actua-e 'lief tion of the starter-gear, whereby the "sectorgear may be meshed with the starter-gear under the resistance of the said spring only.

3. 1n mechanism of the class described, the combination with a sector-gear of a starter-gear with which the former is adapti edto mesh and comprising an outer toothed l tatable with respect to annulus, and an 1nner hub portion having a limited angular movement withreference thereto, said hub member serving as a power transmission element of the starter-gear. Y

4. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a sector-gear, of a starter-gear comprising an outer-toothed annulus with which the sector-gear is adapted to mesh, a hub portion independently rothe outer toothed annulus, a key secured to one of said members and cooperating with a keywa lof greatery angular width than the other o said members, and a spring connecting said members and yieldingly taking up the lost motion between them. Y

5. A starter-gear comprising an outer toothed annulus, a central hub portion having a bearing in the annulusfor movement therein, 'a keysecured to one of-said members and coperatmg with a keyway of greater angular width than the other member, and a spring connecting the said members and ylileldingly taking up the lost motion between t em. y

A FRANK w. scnwrNN. 

